A papal matchmaker: Principle and pragmatism during Innocent III's pontificate

Scholars have yet to recognize the complexity of the match-making policies of Innocent III (1198–1216) concerning the proposed marriages for Otto of Brunswick, Frederick of Sicily, and Elena of Gallura. This article analyzes five marriage projects whereby Innocent used a mixture of canonical principle and pragmatism to further not only the welfare of his protégés, wards and kin but also to advance the interests of the Church and to maintain a peaceful civilized world. It argues that in these projects where the practical and the pastoral often intersected, sometimes politics and canon law circumscribed the extent of papal power; nevertheless, Innocent also to some degree utilized the flexibility of canon law as a political instrument when this was possible. Yet, while politics were an important consideration in the pope's marital strategies, and he took advantage of the elasticity of the law, the pope also continued to act within a set of canonical and moral principles. Thus, ultimately canon law governed his decisions, a law which he would not transgress for political gain alone.